The regional director (Northeast) of the Airports Authority of India, Sanjeev Jindal, on Monday said the AAI had identified 10 airports in the region where each would provide 5kg rice to 500 families in the fight against coronavirus.
A press release, quoting Jindal, said: “We have ensured that no one goes hungry and minimum food and amenities are provided to labourers living at the project sites of the airports and to those living in and around the airports. I have identified 10 airports in the region where we will feed 500 families at each airport, providing 5kg of rice to each family during this crisis.”
Jindal said in the Northeast the AAI, under its corporate social responsibility (CSR) scheme, had donated Rs 10 lakh to each state government in the region through all the airports in-charge.
The fund will be utilised to distribute personal protective equipment, protective kits and other equipment among hospitals and health workers in the northeastern states.
The 10 airports identified as Agartala in Tripura, Imphal in Manipur, Shillong in Meghalaya, Guwahati, Silchar, Dibrugarh, Tezpur and Jorhat in Assam, Dimapur in Nagaland and Tezu in Arunachal Pradesh.
“Similar help has also been planned for police personnel who are far from home performing their duties for society in corona crisis. Rs 50 lakh will be donated to police of all the states in the Northeast for procuring PPEs, kits, masks among others,” Jindal said.
The press release also said 90 tonnes of air cargo had been delivered till date to different areas in the Northeast and more than 3 tonnes had been airlifted from the region.
“The Northeast was given special focus in the lifeline UDAN routes and cargo flights constituting dedicated freighters and helicopters added many sorties to carry medical goods for the region. A total of 90 tonnes of air cargo till date were delivered to different Northeast airports and about 3 tonnes air-lifted from mainly Guwahati, Agartala, Imphal, Dibrugarh, Silchar, Jorhat, Tezpur and Dimapur airports. The rest of the places were connected through roads and helicopters,” the AAI press release said.
The AAI said full thermal screenings were carried out with the help of health officials and paramedics deployed by the state governments at all the airports in the Northeast.
On resumption of commercial flight services from April 15, Jindal said a final decision was yet to be taken by the ministry of civil aviation.